However, finding a win-win strategy is easier said than done. When the markets are choppy marked by widespread global growth concerns, it is difficult for even an insightful investor to come up with a foolproof approach.

One could resort to commonly used techniques to find beaten down stocks that have the potential to recover faster than others. However, even such investment choices bear the risk of disappointment. Particularly, one could be stuck in the value trap if the inherent weakness in a selected stock is not identified.

So, wouldn’t it be a safer strategy to look for stocks that are winners currently and have the potential to gain further?

Here’s how to execute it:

One should primarily look for stocks that have witnessed price increases lately. Actually, such stocks have a high chance of carrying the momentum forward.

If a stock is continuously moving higher, there must be a good reason for the rise or else it probably would have fallen like the losers. So, looking at stocks, which have already won the game and are capable of beating the benchmark that they have already set sounds rational.

However, recent price strength alone cannot create magic. Therefore, you need to set other relevant parameters to create a successful investment strategy.

Here’s how you should create the screen to shortlist the current as well as the potential winners.

Screening Parameters:

Percentage Change in Price (4 Weeks) greater than zero: This criterion shows that the stock has moved higher in the last four weeks.

Percentage Change Price (12 Weeks) greater than 10: This indicates that the stock has seen momentum over the last three months. This lowers the risk of choosing stocks that may have drawn attention due to the overwhelming performance of the overall market in a very short period.

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here .

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the stock’s future performance.

Current Price greater than 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5.

Current Price/ 52-Week High-Low Range more than 85%: This criterion filters stocks that are trading near their respective 52-week highs. It indicates that these are strong enough in terms of price.

Here are five of the nine stocks that made it through this screen:

PCTEL Inc. (NASDAQ:PCTI – Free Report ) designs, develops and delivers wireless solutions. PCTEL's offerings include wireless local area network software products that simplify installation, roaming, Internet access and billing. The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate thrice while missing the same on one occasion in the trailing four quarters. It has an average positive earnings surprise of 125%.

Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (NASDAQ:GGAL – Free Report ) is involved in the Financial Services Industry. Their principal activity is to continue being a financial and investment services holding company and to fulfil the banking services activities of Banco Galicia.

Pampa Energía S.A. (NYSE:PAM – Free Report ) is the largest fully integrated electricity company in Argentina. Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Argentina.

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN – Free Report ) provides location-based services, consisting predominantly of stolen vehicle recovery and tracking services, as well as wireless communications products used in connection with its location-based services and various other applications.

Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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